Lancashire fish and chip restaurants struggle with costs

Sustained periods of wet weather last year have meant some lines of potatoes are up 22 per cent in price - the highest in nearly 50 years.

Michael Rose from Holly Tree Chippy in Blackburn claims that even the price of new potatoes, usually priced at half the price of the traditional potato crop, is now only 15 per cent cheaper.

These soaring prices have meant owners of fish and chip shops are concerned about what this could mean for them; facing the choice of smaller profits or putting prices up and risking losing customers.

It's been a tough few years, as chip shops were hit hard when Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine caused potato prices to spike, and are now being hit again by the wet weather over the past nine months.

Chippies are facing rising costs of ingredients, Deryn Regan, right, said (Image: Deryn Regan)

Michael said: “As traditional fish and chip shops we stick to a very traditional limited menu, where the mainstays are what generations have wanted.

“Other restaurants don’t struggle as much with the raw food costs, and they are not as reliant on certain ingredients, and this means there is a bit of squeeze on traditional chippies.”

East Lancashire has a long history of fish frying with some of the best chippies in the county, while Blackburn is the birthplace of the iconic dish the John Bull.

Michael added: “I like to think that our history will help us ride through this relative crisis which isn’t easy.”

With a hike in the prices of fish, oil and now potatoes over the last three years there is concern that takeaways will have to close their doors. A number of chippies have already shut in recent years, unable to stay in business in the face of rising costs.

In 2022, the National Federation of Fish Friers warned of a “potential extinction event” and Sarson’s, the vinegar manufacturer, predicted that half of UK chip shops would be gone by 2025.

Humble fish and chips is a staple of British cuisine (Image: Newsquest)

Deryn Regan, the manager at Westend Fish & Chips in Oswaldtwistle, said: “It has been a longstanding issue.

"Obviously, potatoes are one of our main sellers, so it is a worry, it's hard but as a business we do absorb those costs.

“I think there will always be a battle on some sort of element. It kind of cycles itself so it is just about keeping up to date and managing the situation.

“We are the nation's favourite, so we want to keep that tradition that we are British, we are fish and chips, and we want everybody to enjoy it."